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Ward Family Timber Roots
~~Jason Todhunter
The Ward family’s timber roots began when Skip Ward started driving a log truck in the early ’60s. He got his CDL at 18 and wrecked the truck on his third day, but that didn’t slow him down. He continued driving for S&W out of Darby, then for Sargent McKenny, also out of Darby.
Skip remembers hauling logs from the West Fork of the Bitterroot to Missoula—two trips a day for $15 per trip! In 1975, Skip went to work for Champion on the road crew, mostly running a dozer and excavator. He stayed with Champion until the company was sold to Plum Creek in the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, Skip’s son Darrell was on a different career path. He was custom combining, starting in Oklahoma and eventually working his way to Montana. The job was good, but Darrell and his family wanted to get back to Montana. Reno Ward was born in 1993 in Oklahoma, and by 1995, Darrell had found his way back to Montana.
Darrell started hauling logs for Cliff Reed Trucking out of Livingston and moved his family to Harlowton. He stayed with Cliff until things started slowing down, then went to work for Miller’s Trucking. While working for Miller’s, he bought a 1977 Peterbilt self-loader with a 400 Cummins and a 5-and-4 transmission. He continued working for Miller’s, and Skip came over from the Bitterroot and drove the ’77 Pete.
In 1997, Reno remembers getting in his dad’s ’Vette and driving to Helena to meet John Ottman to secure a loan for another log truck. This one was a much newer Western Star with a Grizzly loader. Darrell took the new truck, while Skip stayed in the Pete. Maybe Skip was just better with those 5-and-4 transmissions than Darrell!
Darrell realized that most of his work had shifted to Deer Lodge, so he moved there. About a year later, the rest of the family left Harlowton and joined him. As Darrell’s business took root and began to grow, he brought on two employees and upgraded to a fleet of newer, more reliable trucks. By then, the old ’77—with its cracked aluminum frame and a lifetime of hard miles—just sat idle in the yard, gathering rust.
He added several more employees and, in 2002, bought his first new log truck. By 2007, he was working back in the Big Timber area for DS Jr. Trucking. Eventually, he downsized to just himself and his new truck and hauled for a different contractor.
The 2008 housing crisis slowed things down considerably. Darrell got divorced in 2010 and spent some time mining in Alaska. By 2012, he had ended up in the Bakken oil field.
While working in the Bakken, a film crew was looking for some salty truck drivers for a new History Channel series called Ice Road Truckers. Darrell happened to walk into a bar for dinner that night. Wearing some very dirty work clothes, he saw what they were doing and confidently told them, “Stop looking! I am your man!”
A few months later, he was up on the Dalton Highway hauling cargo on the ice roads. He stayed in Alaska for at least three months at a time before coming back to Montana. When he returned home, the timber industry had picked up and things were getting busy again. He bought a 2002 T800 with a Serco loader so he would have something to do when the Dalton Highway thawed out.
When Reno turned 18 in 2012, he started his log-hauling career. He followed in his grandpa’s footsteps and got his CDL. His first job was hauling logs off the Sterling Ranch near Wolf Creek. He also occasionally hauled hay from Opheim to a feedlot in Billings.
Reno had graduated from high school after playing football, basketball, and track. His hard work on the football field earned him a full-ride football scholarship to UM Western in Dillon. His college football career was very distinguished. As a defensive end, he at one time led the nation in sacks, and several NFL teams had conversations with him about going pro.
During Reno’s junior year, he was required to complete a business internship. He did his internship with DS Jr. Trucking Inc.
“It was more like hauling logs than an internship!” he chuckles.
That brings us to Reno’s senior year and UM Western’s football opener in Miles City against Dickinson State. The Mustangs won 29–13, but the high of the game was crushed by news from home the next day: his best pal and dad, Darrell, had been killed in a plane crash east of Missoula.
“I knew from that moment I was going to have to start making some money to keep the home place, so my first call was to Davey Sheets.”
Davey let Reno work around his school schedule, allowing him to earn his degree while keeping the family business going. Reno remembers having the perfect haul to accommodate a Tuesday afternoon class that started at 4:30. He would show up from the Big Hole with a truck and pup full of logs for class, take a nap, and be at the mill by 6 a.m. the next morning.
Reno graduated from college in 2017 and continued working for DS Jr. After a year, he decided to try using his degree and went to work for a large wrecking and auto body business. After a year of that, the woods called louder, and he was back with DS Jr. hauling logs.
After a couple more years, Reno wanted to be closer to home. With a job at a local excavation company and a football coaching position waiting for him in Deer Lodge, he headed back home. By the spring of 2019, Reno had followed his family roots and bought his first log truck.
The 2002 Kenworth W900 was the start of Ward Industries. Shortly after purchasing it, there were no logs to haul, so the logging rigging came off and the truck was put to work hauling seed potatoes from Montana and Idaho to the Tri-Cities.
Once the potatoes were hauled, Reno started hauling off a Sun Mountain Logging job out of White Sulphur Springs. He was now hauling with Jay Oster and was always willing to learn. He soon added some lift axles and a pup.
By the spring of 2020, Reno bought a newer truck from Jay Oster and continued hauling logs for Sun Mountain Logging and Bo Ployhar.
Things were going well for Reno, but he was getting restless living in a log truck. He scheduled a meeting with Sherm Anderson at Sun Mountain Lumber and asked what other contracting work they needed help with. Sherm told him they could use some road building.
So, in 2021, Reno added an excavator and road grader and partnered with Jerry Greenwood, who bought a dozer. Reno also added another 2009 Kenworth with a quick-change bunk so it could haul logs or a lowboy.
That was also the first year he started doing some fire contracting. By this time, Reno had added some great employees in Cody Reich and Riley Jenkins. Ward Industries also added a skidder for road right-of-way and fire work.
On a whim—and possibly on a dare—Reno decided to try his hand at team roping and steer wrestling in 2021. He is currently competitive in both the PRCA and NRA.
May of 2023 brought Reno’s first brand-new truck. Since then, he has continued to add equipment and diversify the business even more. He added a dump truck, a bigger dozer, and, when I interviewed Reno for this article a few weeks ago, he was doing dirt work for a huge feedlot in Molt, Montana. He had one truck hauling for Brady Roberts, two for Russ Reed, and a truck and skidgine in Oregon on a fire.
With lots of hard work and diversification, Ward Industries doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon!
Family success is even more important than business success, and Reno found that when he met his girlfriend, Sam Manley, and her boys Huck and Griffey. Sam is a real estate broker in the Bitterroot. Together, they welcomed Charley in 2025 and are currently building a house in the Bitterroot.
Charley hasn’t been in a log truck yet, but my guess is that will happen soon!
Reno credits much of his business success to his dad, Darrell, as well as Dave and Janice Sheets, who taught him how to think outside the box, and guys like Seth Beck, who showed him what hard work can do.
Reno also credits his success to still hitting the gym four days a week and eating healthy.
When I asked him if he had any other accomplishments to add, he grinned and said, “I have never worn out a couch!”
I believe him!
Timber Roots
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